The ability to craft text to not only satisfy the needs of both a search engine and live visitor is not enough in today’s world. You have to be able to WOW them. There is far too much competition to merely interest the reader, be that reader a person or a bot.
Several years ago, Google introduced its natural text algorithm (NTA) and the game was forever changed. Before that, it was easy to write just what a search engine bot wanted to see and gain top rankings for your efforts. Not so today. Nowadays you need to walk a precarious line between what the search engine needs to see and what your visitor wants to see. And this is a good thing.
Do you remember some of those top-ranking pages from the early 2000’s? What a bunch of junk! Here’s an example of then versus now…
Then:
“Plumber Boston available for emergency services plumbing for plumbing problems from master plumbers Boston.”
Now:
“Looking for an emergency services plumber in Boston? Look no further! Our certified and bonded master plumbers will have your plumbing related problems fixed in no time. We are punctual, courteous and always happy to be of help.”
What a difference! Who would you rather call: the robot or the nice friendly plumber? Google knows the answer and that’s why they added their natural text algorithm. They value the user – and thus their experience – on any site shown in their results.
All this said, if you ever have to choose between two seemingly equally qualified SEO people, choose the better writer. That bet will pay off in spades every time.
The next time you are hiring, or re-evaluating current employee job duties, make it a priority to identify a good writer. Then be prepared to eventually develop him or her into an SEO copywriter. Again, I say eventually. This is not something that will happen overnight but copywriting (of any kind) is a skill set that pays for itself many times over – and SEO copywriting accounts for about 25% of your SEO success.